Devoy Barracks ( Irish: ''Dún Uí Dhubhuí'') was a military installation in

Naas Naas ( ; ga, Nás na Ríogh or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 21,393, making it the second largest town in County Kildare after Newbridge. History The name of Naas has been recorded in th ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

History

The barracks, which were originally known as Naas Barracks, were built for local militia units in 1813. In 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under the

Cardwell Reforms The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attentio ...

and the barracks became the depot for the

102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers) The 102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers) was a regiment of the British Army raised by the Honourable East India Company in 1742. It transferred to the command of the British Army in 1862. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with t ...

and the

103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers) The 103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers) was a regiment raised in 1662. It transferred to the command of the Honourable East India Company in 1668 and to the command of the British Army in 1862. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgama ...

. Following the

Childers Reforms The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms. The reorganisation was ...

, the 102nd and 103rd regiments amalgamated to form the

Royal Dublin Fusiliers The Royal Dublin Fusiliers was an Irish infantry Regiment of the British Army created in 1881, one of eight Irish regiments raised and garrisoned in Ireland, with its home depot in Naas. The Regiment was created by the amalgamation of two Bri ...

with its depot in the barracks in 1881. The Royal Dublin Fusiliers were disbanded at the time of Irish Independence in 1922. The barracks were secured by the forces of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independ ...

in February 1922. The barracks, which were renamed Devoy Barracks after John Devoy, the

Irish republican Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The develop ...

, closed in 1928 and the site was subsequently used for a variety of industrial uses. The

Irish Army Apprentice School The Army Apprentice School ( ga, Scoil Phrintisigh an Airm), was situated in Devoy Barracks, Naas, County Kildare. The school was established on 16 August 1956 when the Irish Defence Forces recognised the need for suitably trained craftsmen wit ...

was established on the site in 1956 but closed in 1998 when the barracks were finally decommissioned.

References

{{reflist Barracks in the Republic of Ireland